US Light Rail Transit Has Sudden Growth Spurt With Flurry of New Line Openings

Light Rail Now! Publication Team  May 2004

The spectacular expansion of electric light rail transit (LRT)
systems in American cities seems to represent a strong vote of
confidence by the planners and decisionmakers of these urban
areas in LRT as an effective public transport solution to mobility
problems. This expansion has continued throughout the spring of
2004 with the opening of several new lines across the country.
And even more expansion is under way. Here's a synopsis of the latest openings:

Portland's MAX Yellow Line (mainly
routed on interstate Avenue) opened ahead of schedule and under budget
on Saturday, May 1st. Serving north and northeast Portland
between the city's downtown and the Expo Center, the new line
(see map, below) includes 10 new stations along North Interstate
Avenue, a former state highway that fell into decay after it was
replaced by the Interstate 5 freeway in 1964. The 5.8-mile, $350
million project marks another milestone in the region's quest to
alter urban development patterns, according to a local TV news report.[KGW-TV, 1 May 2004; photo: M. Eidlin]

Running through North Portland and the Rose Quarter, the line then enters downtown Portland on tracks used by the Blue and Red lines.
By the end of its first year, it is projected to carry as many as 13,900 passengers per day.
However, urban development goals appear equally critical for local
planners; the new rail line is also intended to bolster economic
development and housing opportunities in what is described
as a "downtrodden corridor".[Portland Oregonian, 05 May 2004; KGW-TV, 1 May 2004]

Early indications suggest that the MAX Yellow Line is readily
achieving both its mobility and urban development goals. As of
Monday, 3 May, the Yellow Line had tallied 12,900 boardings –
about 93% of its first-year ridership target within its first 3 days of service.[Portland Oregonian, 05 May 2004]

The opening of Portland's modern LRT extension along Interstate Avenue was
preceded by the launch of extensions to two other LRT systems –
these providing heritage streetcar service – in Memphis (15 March) and New Orleans (18 April).

Memphis's heritage electric streetcar system took a powerful leap
forward on Monday, 15 March 2004, when the Madison Avenue
extension – serving the city's Medical Center complex – opened
with a grand fanfare. Several hundred people cheered and
confetti flew as the first big yellow trolley burst through a banner
and confetti at Cleveland Station and headed downtown (see photo, above).[Memphis Commercial Appeal, 16 March 2004]

The Memphis trolley system is
operated by the Memphis Area Transit Authority and, until the latest
expansion, was transporting more than 800,000 passengers a year over two
downtown circulator lines, providing service 7 days a week. A 2.5-mile Main St. line opened in 1993,
traveling the length of Main St. This line connects the South Main
and Pinch historic districts with numerous downtown attractions. A
2.0-mile Riverfront Trolley Loop, opened in 1997, connects
together the two ends of the Main St. Line, primarily using a
railroad right-of-way shared with Amtrak. (The map at above,
right shows the base streetcar system in red, and the
Madison/Medical Center extension in yellow-red; the Mississippi
River is light blue.)[Vintage Trolley website, 2004; map: MATA, FTA]

Service has been provided with 14 rehabilitated streetcars
imported predominantly from Portugal and Australia, plus one
replica car. According to MATA, ridership on the established
system had reached 3,300 boardings per day.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004; MATA website, May 2004]

The new line operates in mixed traffic along Madison Avenue,
generally on tracks located in the inside travel lanes. Grade
separations have been constructed at two locations: (1) two new
rail-only bridges at Danny Thomas Blvd. (one on each side of an
existing bridge), and (2) reconstruction of the existing bridge over
the i-240 interstate freeway (with tracks placed on the bridge).
The project has added six new stations and a small park-and-ride
facility at the eastern end of the line. Five of the six stations are
located in the center of the street.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004]

The Madison Avenue/Medical Center streetcar extension is
intended to provide both a transportation and an economic
development link between Memphis's Central Business District
and Medical Center and will expand transit service options for
employees, residents and visitors. This corridor has high-density
development, plus significant concentrations of households
without autos, many elderly people, and others who rely on transit
for access to medical facilities for care and employment. it is
hoped that the rail line will enhance development efforts that are
already under way and provide a catalyst for redevelopment in
other sections of the corridor.

While the original budget for construction and procurement of five
heritage streetcars was $74.6, the actual cost of the project came
in significantly under budget, at approximately $55 million. With this extension,
Memphis's rail transit system has taken a qualitative leap, from being merely a nostalgic,
tourist-oriented circulator and shuttle in the downtown, to serving as a major rail transit
link for multiple destinations in central Memphis.

Memphis's historic streetcar system is envisioned as a precursor to a
modern LRT system, in which trackage and power would be
shared by both modern and historic vehicles. Thus, the
Madison/Medical Center heritage streetcar project has been
planned as the last segment of the downtown rail circulation
system as well as the first segment of a modern regional LRT
system, tentatively with at least three corridors (targeted for the
year 2020).[MATA website, 2004]

For the first time in 40 years, streetcars
returned to New Orleans' historic Canal Street. On Sunday, 18 April, the New
Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA) resumed revenue-service operation of the Canal
streetcar line, providing service for residents and visitors along the
city's historic business district, with a one-way ride costing $1.25.[Metro, 15 April 2004; photo: Mike Harrington, 2004]

The new streetcar line, which travels a 5.5-mile route from the
French Market to its final stop at the New Orleans Museum of Art,
includes a fleet of 24 brand-new, air-conditioned streetcars. The
Canal cars are painted red to distinguish them from the historic
olive-green cars running on the venerable St. Charles line. Built
by NORTA blacksmiths, carpenters, electricians, and mechanics,
in collaboration with Brookville Equipment Corp., the new high-performance Canal line cars are designed to resemble the Perley Thomas models
used on the St. Charles line (and on the Canal streetcar service until its abandonment in 1964).

The opening of the Canal streetcar line is the latest milestone in a
gradual but consistent program of upgrades and expansions of
New Orleans' renowned (and once extensive) streetcar system.
As noted above, trolleycars had last run on Canal in 1964, when
the rail line was abandoned and the right-of-way paved over as a
busway (i.e., early "Bus Rapid Transit"), operated with diesel buses.

However, the St. Charles streetcar line, with
continued heavy ridership, was kept in operation – the last remnant of a once-vast
citywide system. in 1973, the St. Charles Line and the remaining fleet of 35 Perley Thomas
cars received national recognition when they were named to the National Register of Historic Places.
Eventually, the entire bus and streetcar system was taken under public operation by NORTA.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004]

The St. Charles line extends approximately 7 miles, most of it in a center median on St. Charles Avenue, with about ten blocks of street running in
mixed traffic to connect with Canal St. in New Orleans' Central Business District. There are 52
stops in total. All of the center-median track (known locally as "neutral ground") on St. Charles
and Carrollton Avenues is covered with grass (sod), flush with the top of the rails. The track is
laid to New Orleans' traditional 5' 2-1/2" broad-gauge standard. The overhead contact system on
the line is direct-suspension trolley wire, powered at 600 volts DC, suspected primarily by bracket
arm construction using center poles.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004; map: NORTA]

In August 1988, New Orleans opened a totally new streetcar line, the Riverfront Line.
The first phase of this line connected together the
then-new commercial developments in the
Warehouse District to developments along the
Mississippi Riverfront and in the French Quarter.
The initial line utilized a 1.5-mile section of the
existing Public Belt Line railroad, incorporating a
single track with a passing siding in the middle.
Unlike the St. Charles Line, this new route initially was standard gauge.
[Vintage Trolley website, 2004; map: NORTA]

Overwhelming public response to the new line (5,000 riders per
day instead of the projected 2,000) prompted plans for
expansions which began to be phased in starting in 1990. The line
was extended another half-mile, a second track was added, and
three wheelchair-accessible ex-Melbourne streetcars were added to the service.

in 1997, the line received another major overhaul, being
converted to the 5' 2-1/2" broad-gauge standard of the St. Charles
Line in order to permit direct use of the Carrollton "station"
(maintenance facility) serving the St. Charles line. The Riverfront
service was also re-equipped with a fleet of seven new cars built
at Carrollton. These new cars were built to the classic Perley
Thomas pattern so familiar to New Orleans, but featured
PCC-derivative running gear and controls from CKD (Tatra) in the
Czech Republic. The Melbourne cars formerly used on the line
were subsequently resold to Memphis for that city's own heritage
trolley operation (see previous story, above).

The Riverfront line currently has ten stations, featuring relatively
short, low-level concrete platforms with modern steel canopies
and informational signage. ADA access is provided with
car-mounted wheelchair lifts from Ricon. The double-track line (as
noted, utilizing a traditional railroad right-of-way) is still paralleled
by a standard-gauge track for freight trains. Guard rails have been
added between the running rails on the freight track for the length
of the line adjacent to the streetcar tracks. Direct-suspension
trolley wire is hung from steel poles utilizing bracket arm
construction. The poles are topped with lights that also provide
nighttime illumination.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004]

As of 2001, weekday rider-trips on NORTA's St. Charles and
Riverfront streetcar lines averaged 14,100. This relatively high
ridership, and the streetcars' success in attracting new
passengers, prompted strong interest in restoring streetcar
service to Canal St., where ridership had steadily plummeted
despite the "BRT" busway service which had replaced the earlier
streetcar line in 1964.[FTA NTD 2001]

Despite the ridership drop, five major Canal bus lines were still
experiencing approximately a total of six million annual boardings
in the late 1990s, and it was felt that the re-introduction of
streetcars would inherit adequately strong ridership from the bus
service, while introducing the potential to significantly invigorate
ridership in the corridor. Planners predicted that replacing
NORTA's buses with streetcars would allow for a significant
reduction in the cost of providing public transit on Canal Street
and in the Mid-City area, while maintaining current service
schedules and capacity. improved traffic flow, better air quality,
and the potential for economic development in underserved areas
were additional benefits hoped for.[NORTA website, 2002/11/17]

Work on the $161 million Canal project began in January 2001.
This project has included reinstalling streetcar trackage in the
"neutral ground" on Canal Street for 4.13 miles, between the
bottom of downtown and the Cemeteries area, plus the branch to
City Park (see map, below). Trackage for the one-mile spur on
North Carrollton Avenue has been installed in the left traffic lane;
the streetcar extension terminates at Beauregard Circle opposite
the New Orleans Museum of Art. Tracks have been laid using the
5' 2-1/2" broad-gauge standard of the St. Charles Line to facilitate
interlining with other lines and to permit access to the Carrollton
station of the St. Charles line.[New Orleans Times-Picayune, 16 September 2003; NORTA website, 2004; Vintage
Trolley website, 2004]

A major feature in the Canal project has been the fabrication of
the two dozen brand-new, high-performance streetcars based on
the Perley Thomas (PT) model – the PT-2000. Like the Perley
Thomas replicas operating on the Riverfront Line, the new car has
been fabricated mainly in-house, with trucks and electrical
equipment provided by Brookville Equipment Corp. ADA access
is provided via onboard wheelchair lifts on both sides. The car is
all-electric, and uses PCC-derivative trucks from CKD-Tatra.

Unlike the Riverfront cars, the Canal cars are air conditioned, a
modification which has eliminated the traditional Perley Thomas
arched ceiling and its bare light bulbs inside the car. The Canal
cars instead have a flat ceiling and modern light fixtures, although
the wooden walkover seats found on the older cars are retained.
The PT-2000s have an unusual faux-clerestory section added on
the roof, housing the car's air-conditioning unit and resistor grids
for the propulsion system.[Vintage Trolley website, 2004]

NORTA's energetic streetcar expansion program
emphasizes that New Orleans regards its heritage-style streetcar system as its mainstay rail transit mode
to serve the central city.
Planning for additional streetcar lines continues, with a possible
reinstatement of the famous Desire line at the top of NORTA's list.
This would introduce a route similar, although not identical, to the
original "Streetcar Named Desire" route immortalized in
Tennessee Williams's play and subsequent movie.

Vigorous US LRT expansion continues

The new extensions in Portland, Memphis, and New Orleans are
merely the latest examples of an ongoing, vigorous resurgence of
LRT expansion, including modernization measures and capacity
upgrades, extensions to existing systems, and totally new startups
in several cities. (The openings in Portland, Memphis, and New Orleans follow on the heels of
the launch of the River Line non-electrified light railway in southern New Jersey, connecting Camden
with Trenton; see Camden-Trenton: River Line Light Railway Gains Riders, Spurs Economic Development.)

Here's a summary of some of the most important examples of current electric LRT expansion projects:

· Extensions: Projects currently under way in San Diego, San
Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Denver, Dallas, St. Louis,
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Hudson-Bergen, Newark.

· Upgrade: Project currently under way in Baltimore (double-tracking project).